Governments must present their new national plans to cut planet-heating emissions and boost climate resilience as soon as possible, the UN climate chief has urged, with several major economies yet to announce targets less than a month before the deadline.
Simon Stiell made his call in a letter sent to all countries on Wednesday, saying “strong” climate plans were “the best defence” against the global climate crisis.
Countries need to submit their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by the end of September so the UN climate change body can assess cumulative efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 2035, and publish a report ahead of COP30 in November.
This “synthesis report [will] provide an important update of progress”, Stiell wrote, adding that it would likely guide discussions in Belém over what countries should do next to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago is bracing himself for a clash of views on how to respond to that assessment.
Crunch time for NDCs
Fewer than 30 countries have submitted their NDCs so far, with many major polluters – including China, India and the European Union – still missing.
Stiell encouraged leaders to take up an invitation to announce their climate targets at a high-level event organised by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on September 24 in New York. Climate Home News understands that the UN climate body expects a surge of NDC submissions in the coming weeks.
The EU, however, risks showing up empty-handed at the UN event as member states tussle over how its climate goals should be approved. Environment ministers were due to vote on the bloc’s 2040 emissions-cutting target – from which the NDC is derived – at a September 18 meeting. But France wants discussions to be escalated to the leaders’ level, a move that would likely delay the process, Reuters reported.
China has previously indicated it would unveil its new climate targets in the autumn, while Indonesia is planning to submit its NDC before this month’s high-level summit.
‘Engines of economic growth’
“These national climate plans are much more than words on paper,” wrote Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “They are among this century’s most powerful engines of economic growth and rising living standards.”
While visiting some of the world’s largest countries this year, Stiell heard how some business leaders are pushing governments for maximum ambition to secure opportunities and reduce climate risks, a UN official said.
Countries that submit “strong new NDCs are on their way to securing the biggest share of the clean energy boom [and] the millions of jobs and stronger economic growth it is creating”, Stiell added in his letter.
